


Revenge is sweet and sour

by yellowbutterflies



Series: F1 heist au [18]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: :), Alternate Universe - Gang World, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cliffhangers, Comfort, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gangs, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Summaries, Kidnapping, M/M, Or am I, Revenge, Rivalry, Running Away, Secrets, Shooting, but I’m sorry, nyck is broken, someone give Nyck a hug, we love a cliffhanger here :), you’re going to hate me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29821182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowbutterflies/pseuds/yellowbutterflies
Summary: It’s time Nyck and Stoffel got revenge on George, but how do they do that? Well, Stoffel just might have the answer.OrStoffel and Nyck get their revenge in the heist au
Relationships: Alexander Albon/Lando Norris/George Russell, Stoffel Vandoorne & Nyck de Vries, Stoffel Vandoorne/Nyck de Vries
Series: F1 heist au [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109519
Comments: 10
Kudos: 31





	1. Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> Nobody asked for this but i did

Finding out that William wasn’t who he said he was, hurt Nyck. It hurt him that he betrayed him and pretended to love him. Nyck never did well with love, nobody ever stayed long enough to love him but William had. William had loved him but it was all a lie, all of it. That hurt Nyck. 

It hurt him more than anything. 

Nyck didn’t trust people very easily, he didn’t find it easy to open himself up to people but he had to William. Even after Stoffel had warned him to wait a while. He should have listened to Stoffel. 

He shouldn’t have opened himself up so easily, he shouldn’t have trusted him so easily. 

Thanks to William, he’s out of a job. The bank decided to close down, it was risky owning a bank in this city. Everything they have is online now. Nyck doesn’t have a job. He just has Stoffel and himself. 

When Stoffel told him that William, or whomever he was, that they hadn’t seen the last of them, Nyck couldn’t comprehend. They had stopped that life, they had stopped because it was getting dangerous, way too dangerous for them to continue. Nyck had never imagined himself going back to that life but he was so hurt. Stoffel looked so concerned too. Sometimes revenge was sweet, sometimes it was sour. 

Nyck knew he had to do this. He would never trust anyone after this, he would never love anybody else. He would just have Stoffel, he always had Stoffel. 

When Nyck arrived at Stoffel’s place, he was hunched over a computer. He stopped when Nyck came in, offered a reassuring smile. He knew Nyck wasn’t okay, he knew how much William had affected him. Stoffel came away from the computer to wrap Nyck in his arms, to wrap him safe in his arms. Nyck always felt safe in his arms. 

“I was cross referencing photos.” Stoffel started as he sat back down, Nyck coming to his side. “William Newton never existed, he was never a person. He was George Russell and I figured out he works for Carbon.” 

“Carbon? As in the gang?” Stoffel nodded. “How did you figure that out?” 

“Carbon left their symbol. Look at these crime photos.” Stoffel had hacked into the criminal database to get these. “Right there, under the class on the wood.” And there it was. Stoffel was right, it was their symbol. 

“Oh.” Was all Nyck could say. 

“They played the long con on us, and you were the pawn. You were the key.” 

“Oh.” Nyck looked down at his feet, the tears rising quickly in his eyes.

William, no his name was George. His name had been George all along. He had lied to them. He had lied to Nyck about his feelings, about loving him. Everything he did was because they were playing the long con. Nyck had never been loved by him, he was used by him. Knowing this made Nyck feel ten times worse but he would rather know it then not. It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. 

All Nyck had ever wanted was love, he just wanted to love someone. He had loved Stoffel at a time but he had never told him. He kept that secret with him and he’d keep it till the day he died. Stoffel would never love him back. Nyck couldn’t face another heartbreak. 

George had seen everything Nyck had wanted and gave him that. He gave him that just to take it all away. 

“Hey, no, come here.” Stoffel stood up and rushed to take Nyck into his arms, letting the Dutch cry into his chest. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Nyck shook his head. “I’m so sorry Nyck.” He held him tight. 

Nyck didn’t like the feelings he was having, he didn’t like the crying. He didn’t like the fact he felt fragile, like he was going to combust at any given moment. He felt weak and even more vulnerable than he ever had and he hated it. He wanted it to stop. He wanted revenge.

Maybe George did deserve this. Maybe George was worth going back into this lifestyle. He had hurt Nyck like he’d never been hurt before. Nyck didn’t like that, he didn’t like George. He didn’t like someone who could easily take advantage of somebody else. He didn’t think hurting people like that was right. 

It scarred people, it would stay with them for the rest of their life. It would affect all their future relationships with people. 

George had done that so easily to Nyck. He had scarred Nyck. 

Nyck could never see himself loving anybody else, Nyck could never see himself trusting anybody else. 

George had hurt him bad. He had gone down to Nyck’s core, taken everything and ripped it all out. He had found all of his weaknesses and vulnerabilities and exploited them. He had used them for his own good. He had used them so he could rob the bank. He had used them for Carbon’s game. 

Nobody messed with Nyck and Stoffel and got away with it. 

Nobody ever had and nobody ever would. 

You didn’t mess with them. 

Nyck buried himself deeper into Stoffel’s chest as he calmed himself. Stoffel would keep him safe, Stoffel would protect him, Stoffel would make sure nobody would ever hurt him again. Stoffel would make sure they got revenge. 

Stoffel always looked after Nyck. 

“So revenge?” Nyck looked up at him. “How do we do that?” He asked Stoffel. 

“Well, George is in Carbon. We know they’re a tight knit family. There has to be someone in particular George is close with.” Stoffel said as he sat down, pulling a chair over for Nyck.

“Every Sunday he went to see someone.” Nyck remembered. 

“Guess it’s time to find his apartment buildings camera files.” Stoffel said. Nyck sat beside him as Stoffel got to work. 

Stoffel tended to do the hacking and all the computer stuff, he tended to do all the research. Nyck preferred the action, the adrenaline, the killing. That’s what Nyck liked. 

Nyck never thought they’d be back in this position, he didn’t think they'd be back here doing all of this. 

But what he never expected was being messed with by Carbon. 

He knew living in this town he would hear their name and what they were up to. He just never thought he would have to deal with them. 

Carbon had messed with them too many times by now, it was time they got their own back. They didn’t want to be involved in their little schemes again. More importantly, Nyck didn’t want to be hurt again. 

He didn’t want to be used again, he didn’t want to trust again, he didn’t want to love again. He just wanted to be okay. He just wanted the life he had before George back. He wanted the happiness he had, the happiness he experienced working at the bank. 

He wanted his life back. George had taken it all from him. He took everything Nyck had worked so hard for. Nyck had spent years laying down these foundations, laying down this life. Nyck had spent years working on himself, working on his happiness and it had all been taken away from him. 

That wasn’t okay. 

Nyck had to work so hard to be happy, he had been hurt by people in the past. He’d been let down multiple times. It was hard to get into the position he was in and George had unraveled that so easily. All the years of mental pain Nyck had suffered, came back. 

It was clear Stoffel didn’t like what George had done. He was close with Nyck, they hadn’t met at the bank like they told people. They met elsewhere, a story they couldn’t tell people. Stoffel too had been let down by people but he had taken it better than Nyck had, he dealt with it better than Nyck had. 

But Stoffel was close with Nyck. You hurt Nyck and you had Stoffel to deal with. George had hurt Nyck, now he had to deal with Stoffel. Now he had to deal with the revenge Stoffel had planned with him. 

Seeing Nyck so upset broke Stoffel. Seeing Nyck heartbroken hurt Stoffel. Nyck shouldn’t be heartbroken, Nyck shouldn’t have been dating George. Nyck should have been with him but Stoffel had crushed down his feelings because he didn’t want to deal with them. If he had dealt with them, Nyck wouldn’t be in this position. 

He couldn’t stand seeing Nyck like this, he couldn’t stand seeing him so fragile. Nyck was made of glass and George had broken him. Nyck, a sweet boy and George had hurt him so easily. He took one look at Nyck and decided to take advantage of him. It wasn’t like Nyck had ever done anything to him, Nyck was sweet, kind and caring. He only hurt people if he needed to, if it was a necessity. 

It made Stoffel mad that Geroge had done that so easily to Nyck. It made him mad that he thought he was getting away with, that he wasn’t even apologetic for it.

There was no way he was letting George get away with this.

George didn’t have to see the pain of Nyck’s face, he didn’t have to hold him as the boy cried and cried. He didn’t have to see the torment that Nyck was going through. He didn’t have to see Nyck getting upset every time he had to go back to his apartment because that’s where his memories with William were. He didn’t have to watch Nyck crying himself to sleep.

Stoffel did and he’d happily comfort Nyck but he was angry that George left him like that, angry that George caused him to be like that, angry that he didn’t know how to make Nyck better. 

They were working, looking for something that would link to George when Nyck started crying again. Stoffel pulled Nyck into his lap, cradling him close like he usually did to calm him down. He wished this wasn’t how it was, he wished he didn’t have to comfort Nyck and listened as he cried. He wished George never entered their life’s, he wished they left them alone.

“It’s okay, Nyck.” Stoffel whispered to him but it wasn’t okay. Both of them knew that, they knew it was far from okay but Stoffel didn’t want to tell Nyck that. He wanted to hold and protect him from everything. He wanted Nyck. 

“It’s not, Stoff, it’s not.” He shook his head, the tears falling quickly down his cheeks. Stoffel held him closer.

“I know but it will be, once we get our revenge. He hurt you, we hurt him.”

——————————

George felt like he had to watch over his shoulder at all times, the police knew him now. They had his pictures, sure they thought he was William Newton but they’d soon figure it out. They’d soon figure him out. Lewis wasn’t letting George leave at the moment without at least one person. It was fair, George welcomed the rule because he didn’t want to be found. Never did he want to be found. He knew he would have to run from the police eventually, hide from them but he never expected it to feel like this.

Other than this feeling George thrived being back at Carbon, being back with his boyfriends and being able to see his brother again. It was nice, getting back to his usual jobs. It was nice being able to be a criminal on a daily basis now instead of having to wait months.

He didn’t think about Nyck or Stoffel much, just only late at night as he was getting ready to sleep. He didn’t feel any sympathy for them, he didn’t care about them but he did wonder what they were doing now. He did wonder how it might have affected Nyck. 

He tried to keep them out of his head, they didn’t belong there. They belonged in William’s head and William was all in the past now. He didn’t bring him up, he didn’t think about him. Lando and Alex had briefly asked about it but they soon realised George didn’t want to talk about it, he wanted to leave it in the past and they respected that. George really did love them.

They saw how George reacted, they didn’t need to ask questions. They knew George, they could see it on his face. They saw how much he didn’t want to talk about him, they saw how much he wanted to keep it in the past, how much he wanted to keep it hidden and locked away.

William stayed in the past now, he wasn’t to be brought up or spoken about. He didn’t exist anymore, he never did technically but he wasn’t a thing now. He was left, gone and forgotten about. He had been thrown into a box and locked away. He wasn’t coming out. He was remaining a secret and mystery forever, till George died.

That’s how George intended it to be.

But Nyck and Stoffel didn’t.

————————

“I’ve found something.” Stoffel called through the rooms, Nyck came through from the bathroom.

“What?” Nyck asked, depositing himself beside Stoffel.

“His old instagram.” Stoffel showed the screen he had up. “The last photo was uploaded March 31st 2020, I’m assuming he joined Carbon not longer after this. That’s his best friends, Lando and Alex. They’re tagged.”

“Right, okay.” Nyck blinked.

“I did some more digging, the one in the middle, Lando, has a secret private instagram. The name isn’t tied to him at all but I did some photo scanning. I hacked the privacy wall and he still uploads on it. It turns out there are a lot of secret private accounts that follow him, I’m assuming they are other members.” 

“I’m confused.” Nyck said.

“Look at the second to last upload.” Nyck looked at the screen.

There was a photo in the woods, George was kissing Lando in the photo. There was another boy in the background smiling widely with his thumbs up. 

“That’s Lando and Geroge, with Alex in the background.” Stoffel explained.

“So he has a boyfriend?” Nyck asked.

“Not just one, he has two. He’s dating both of them.” Stoffel said.

Nyck just blinked at the screen, not only was George pretending to love him but he also had two boyfriends back at home. Wherever home was for George. He assumed they knew, while George may be a criminal he did look like he wouldn’t hurt the actual people who he loved. Just the ones he pretended to love.

He could have never loved Nyck, how could he when he had two boyfriends already. Two boyfriends who he looked so in love with, two boyfriends who clearly loved him back. 

It hurt, it stung. It had all been a lie with no possibility of it ever being true. George never had feelings for him, he had just used him.

It made Nyck feel worthless, useless. He hated feeling like that but his head was telling him it was the truth. The only thing he was useful for was aiding in someone robbing a bank. He had been worthless to Geroge, George was only there to use him and take advantage of that.

He never loved him, he never ever loved Nyck. He never repropricated the feelings Nyck had for him, he never did. It was all a lie. All a lie.

It had all been a sick, twisted fantasy. A sick, twisted scheme. A sick, twisted scheme where Nyck was the pawn.

“Nyck?”

“No, no. I’m not going to cry over him anymore, he doesn’t deserve it. I’m not going…” He cut himself off with a sob.

“Come here.” Stoffel held his arms out, Nyck threw himself into them. He let Stoffel comfort him.

“I want revenge on him, Stoff.” Nyck whispered.

“I have the perfect idea, there is just one thing we need to do first.” Stoffel replied, holding Nyck close and not letting him go. He would never let Nyck go, never ever.

—————————

Lewis found Lando in the IT room, sitting next to Max who was currently being annoyed by Charles who was waiting for Pierre to come back. Lewis gave them a smile before pulling Lando aside. 

“Got a business deal in the other half of the city, think you can do it for me?” Lewis asked him.

“Today?” Lando asked.

“5pm, is that okay?” Lewis asked again.

“Yeah, I’ll just text the boys so they know to expect me late.” Lando smiled.

“Cheers, I’ll send you the details.” 

Lando made his way to the location at 5pm, most business deals happened in alleys and backstreets, this was no different. He made his way into the alley, nobody was here yet. Sometimes people were late, he got that. He would wait for ten minutes and if nobody showed he would leave. That’s how it worked. You didn’t get a second chance with Carbon either. Punctuality is key.

He was about to check his phone to see what time it was but something was put over his hand, someone grabbing his arms too and tying them behind his back. It didn’t take long for Lando to figure out he was being kidnapped. He tried to fight it, he knew it would probably be no use but he had to try, he had to. He couldn’t do this to George and Alex, especially when they had only just got George back from being away for so long.

“Stop struggling. We aren’t letting you go, your little boyfriend messed with the wrong people.” A voice said. Lando realised they were on about George. George had messed with the bank, was he being kidnapped by the owners? Or the workers? Who was it and what exactly did they want with Lando?

He felt himself being dragged into a car.


	2. And sour

When the thing was taken off Lando’s face, there were two people standing in front of him. He didn’t recognise them, should he recognise them? One of them looked like they could do with a week of sleep, he looked broken and upset. The other one looked, well Lando couldn't tell. He couldn’t really read people. He only knew what the first was feeling because he had been in that position before. 

He was confused why he was here. Sure they told him it’s because his boyfriend messed up but which one? It could be Alex, he did assassinate someone not long ago but it could also be George. It was more likely to be George out of the two, George had done the most recent thing. He had done something to hurt other people. George had told them all about fooling some guy called Nyck, making the boy fall in love with him just to leave him.

It was evil, Lando knew that but they were criminals after all. Sometimes you had to do tough things, Lando knew it wasn’t easy for George to do something like that. George doesn’t like to hurt people but sometimes you have to.

“Nice to meet you, Lando.” The tired one says, he tries to smile but something stops him.

“Should I know who you are?” Lando asked. 

“Save the questions but no probably not. I’m Stoffel, that’s Nyck.” Oh. Stoffel clearly saw the flash of recognition from Lando. “Ahh, so he’s spoken about us then.” 

“Yes.” Lando replied 

“And what do you think of the situation then?” Stoffel questioned him.

“I well,” Lando paused, what did he think about it? Alex had voiced his opinion about it, his was that sometimes you had to do bad things but Lando had stayed quiet. “It’s not nice to hurt someone like that. To break their heart. It’s never nice. I don’t think it was completely necessary to do that, I see why he did it, to make it easier you know? But I don’t think he should have done it.”

“Why’s that?” Stoffel asked.

“Because it isn’t nice to toy around with someone’s feelings like that, especially if they’re vulnerable.” Lando responded.

“Should have taken the other one.” Nyck mumbled. “I’m liking this one so far.” 

“He seems to not share the same opinion as George.” Stoffel said.

“What are we going to do with him?” Nyck asked.

“Torture George. He played with your feelings, we play with his.” Stoffel answered simply. 

———————————

Lando had told George and Alex to expect him late, they didn’t mind. He was out on a mission after all but the minutes started going by and by, with no Lando showing up. It was from 6pm which was the time they expected him to 7pm. It was only around 7:30pm that Alex and George agreed that there might just be something wrong. 

The young Brit was known for getting lost around here but he had gone to the other side of the city alone. There was a very high chance Lando took a wrong turn and got lost. Alex gripped his hand tightly as they walked to Lewis’ office.

Since he’d been back he had noticed Lando and Alex had gotten close, he wasn’t surprised. It had just been the two of them for the past 4 months. It was Alex who had to comfort Lando alone, it was Lando who had to comfort Alex alone. It was just them two alone for four months, it was natural that they were going to grow close. George was happy they grew close, happy that they were stronger. There was always a chance one of them wouldn’t be around for long periods of time. They all needed to be able close to each other.

“Hello boys.” Lewis smiled as they entered. “Everything okay?” George and Alex looked at each other, George squeezed Alex’s hand. It was clear it was affecting Alex a little more but George hadn’t seen Lando in months, he had become accustomed to it. It would be a while till it settled in.

“Lando hasn’t returned.” George spoke.

“He hasn’t?” Lewis looked at them.

“No.” 

“Let me try his phone.” Lewis rang him. It rang for a few seconds before someone picked up, it was very clear from the beginning it wasn’t Lando. “Hello?”

“It’s not him.” He heard someone whisper. “Who are you?”

“Where’s Lando?” Lewis asked.

“Answer my question first.” The voice said.

“I’m his boss.” Lewis replied.

“Ahh, you’re his boss. Do pass this message onto George for me: he messed with the wrong people, so now we mess with him.” The person on the other end hung up after they finished speaking.

“Lewis?” George asked when he saw the look on Lewis’ face change.

“George, who did you mess with at the bank? Not the owners, the workers.” Lewis asked. 

“Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne.” George told him. Lewis reacted by pushing the pile of files off his desk.

“I knew i should have done a background check! I knew it!” Lewis raised his voice, Sebastian came into the office not long after.

“Lewis?” Sebastian asked.

“Sebastian, Nyck and Stoffel have Lando.” Lewis told him, George was confused. How did they know Nyck and Stoffel? Why did they have Lando? Then it hit him, they kidnapped Lando. He quickly turned to Alex who was already crying, George brought him into a hug before Alex pushed him away.

“Alex?” Lewis got his attention. “Why don’t you go with Sebastian for a minute?” Alex went quietly with Sebastian, not looking at George.

“What’s going on?” George asked, Lewis pointed to the chair. George sat.

“Nyck and Stoffel were once members of Carbon. A few years ago, we didn’t have enough resources to keep everyone. They were some of our newest members, we let them and a few others go. Most of them turned to Fernando, he took them in. Nyck and Stoffel didn’t, instead they started doing crimes themselves. They never crossed us, they were still loyal to us until we crossed them. I wish i could say it was an accident but it wasn’t. We needed that shipment, they did too. One of our guys shot Stoffel. He almost died, Nyck had to look after him by himself, he had no medical experience whatsoever. He had to go off what Stoffel knew, which wasn’t a lot.” Lewis explained.

“Oh.” Was all George could muster as a response. He had been dealing with ex-Carbon members, he had faked dated an ex-Carbon member. He had hurt an ex criminal. An ex criminal who now had his boyfriend. “Oh.” He said again.

“I knew I should have done a background check, I thought it would be fine.” Lewis sighed, he started to pick up the files from the ground. “I guess not. I’ll call a meeting in the morning. We don’t have any clues.”

“Call a meeting now, we’re losing vital time.” George told him, Lewis looked up at him.

“George, I don’t-“ George cut him off.

“Call a meeting Lewis, or I’ll get Nico here to do it.” George looked at him, he didn't want to bring his brother here but Lando was in danger. His boyfriend was in danger, he was with Nyck and Stoffel. George had know idea what they were capable of and George had hurt Nyck pretty bad.

Lewis called a meeting that night. A few went out to look around at some warehouses, looking for clues. A couple went to where Lando was supposed to do the business deals. There were no clues anywhere. Lewis called it a night around midnight, they had to sleep. George wasn’t going to argue that. They’d be back out in the morning, there wasn’t much they could do without clues but Lando was still in danger regardless. 

When George arrived at his apartment, Sebastian was sitting on the couch with Alex. Alex had a blanket over him and was asleep. Sebastian didn’t look, well he didn’t look anything to be honest.

“He’s sleeping on the couch tonight. He doesn’t want to talk to you.” Sebastian told him, he walked over to him. “I’m sorry, George. He’s blaming you because you hurt Nyck the way you did. Yes, he agreed that things like that had to happen but he couldn’t have imagined this happening. I’ll see you in the morning.” Sebastian left them. 

George looked over to Alex on the couch, he didn’t look peaceful at all. He didn’t look comfortable. He looked distressed and sad, it hurt George. Why did he always hurt them? Why did he always bring them pain? It was always him. Alex and Lando had never done a long con and left him for months, then hurt someone and caused that person to kidnap one of them. Alex and Lando had never snapped at him like he did when he found out Nico was his brother. They didn’t keep a secret like that from him. Lando and Alex had never told George they didn’t care about him like George did about Lando. It was always him. He had to fix that but first he had to find Lando.

He walked over to Alex and crouched beside him. Alex was still asleep, George gently carded his fingers through Alex’s hair. Alex calmed and relaxed for a minute, George gently kissed his head. He didn’t want to leave Alex out here but he didn’t want George. He wanted to be alone and George needed to respect that. He took one last look at him before going to the bedroom. 

George found it difficult to sleep that night, he couldn’t sleep knowing that Nyck and Stoffel had Lando and he didn’t know what they were capable of. It scared him. What were they going to do to him? Were they going to hurt him? Or just keep him there to torture George? Was that what all this was? A plan to torture George? 

He glanced over to the clock when he heard someone, presumably Alex, walking around their kitchen. It was 3am and George hadn’t slept a bit. He had just stayed awake overthinking the situation, thinking about all the bad things that could happen.

“George?” Alex was standing in the doorway, the blanket wrapped around him. He’d been crying, George could see that even in the dark. He could hear it in his voice too.

“Alex.” George sat up.

“Can’t sleep.” He looked down at his feet.

“Me either.” George replied.

“I wasn’t asleep when you kissed my head.” Alex admitted.

“Oh.” George replied.

“Can I lay with you?” Alex asked quietly.

“Of course, always. You don’t need to ask.” George pulled the covers back on Alex’s usual spot. 

Alex deposited the blanket at the end of the bed and laid next to George. He let himself rest his head on George’s chest. George curled an arm around Alex, his fingers resting on Alex’s bicep. His other hand found Alex’s, Alex let George lock their fingers together. He snuggled in close and closed his eyes.

George couldn’t have guessed this would happen, he couldn’t have known. Alex knew that, he knew he couldn’t blame George because it wasn’t his fault. It was Lewis’. Their boss should have done a proper background check. He shouldn’t have let them go without a background check. It was Lewis’ fault, not George’s. George was just doing his job, just doing as he was instructed. It was Lewis’ fault, he didn’t check them. 

When Alex woke up George was looking down at him, looking down at him with those sad eyes. Alex felt bad, he had heard Sebastian tell him what Alex had said.

“I’m sorry.” They both said at the same time, a soft weak smile appearing on their faces.

“It’s not your fault.” Alex held his hand. “Not your fault, Georgie.”

“But I hurt Nyck, who has him.” George mumbled.

“Lewis didn’t do a background check, it’s his fault.” George blinked, he supposed he was right. Lewis hadn’t done that. If he did, they wouldn’t be in this position.

“Just don’t tell Nico, he’ll kill him.” George said.

“We best get up.” Alex mumbled.

“Yeah, we’ll find him Alex. We’ll find him.” George hugged him.

—————————

Lando watched through the window as Nyck and Stoffel spoke on the other side. He couldn’t hear them and he definitely couldn’t lip read. They’d been somewhat nice to him, they fed him and kept him hydrated. Who knew that some kidnappers would be nice?

They were plotting something. Lando didn’t know that but they were. They had to think of some way to get George and Lando had to be lured.

“We could get him to use a burner phone, call someone. Tell them where he is, pretend he escaped.” Nyck offered. 

“Who knew little Nyck could be so smart?” Stoffel smiled at him, Nyck looked at his feet.

“You think I’m smart?” He asked.

“Of course I do.” Stoffel hugged him. Maybe Nyck hadn’t gotten rid of his feelings, maybe he just hid them all deep inside his mind. Stoffel walked him into the room Lando was in.

“Call Lewis or George on that phone.” Stoffel threw a phone at him. “Tell them you escaped and to meet you at beachway.” Lando nodded.

“Lewis?” Lando said. “Yes, it’s me.” He waited for a response. “I escaped, I’m near beachway.” Stoffel held ten fingers up and whispered minutes. “I can meet you there in ten minutes. Yes. I’m sure, I don’t know how to describe where I am. I’m okay.” He hung up the phone.

“Let’s go.” Nyck untied his hands from the chair but kept them tied together.

Nyck stayed beside him in the car, as they approached beachway they noticed some cars. Carbon couldn’t be there already. Stoffel and Nyck were closer than Carbon were. They approached the building carefully, they entered with caution not knowing what to expect.

They definitely weren’t expecting Fernando and the Arrow’s gang to be looting Beachway warehouse. The leader turned quickly, staring them down. Stoffel brought Lando close to him, in order to protect him. Lando was bait for Carbon, not them. Stoffel made sure Nyck was behind him.

“Well, if it isn’t Stoffel and Nyck.” Fernando grinned. “And a member of Carbon, hello Lando.” 

“Still with Carbon even after they let you go?” Jack Aitken spoke up from beside Fernando. “They kicked us to the curb and you’re still being loyal to them?”

“We aren’t.” Stoffel gritted his teeth. 

“No, they kidnapped him.” Lewis’ voice came from the corner, everyone whipping around to look at them. Stoffel took some steps back with Lando so he could everyone, still making sure Nyck stayed behind him.

“So you wouldn’t join us because you didn’t want to betray them but you’d kidnap a Carbon member?” Pietro Fittipaldi questioned.

“It’s because our member hurt them first.” Lewis spoke. “It was retaliation.” 

“You know, there is always a place for you two.” Fernando told Stoffel and Nyck. 

“Come join us.” Jack said again. “Finally realise that they never wanted you. We want you.”

“Just give us Lando first.” Fernando said.

“What?” Stoffel asked.

“Give us, Lando. I think Carbon needs to pay for a couple of things. I think killing Lando would suffice, don’t you think Enzo?” Fernando asked another member.

“I do.” 

“Daniil?” Fernando turned.

“I do too, boss.” Daniil replied.

Stoffel looked between the two gangs. He and Nyck had two choices here, they could give Lando to Fernando and have a place in a gang, a secure place. Or they could give Lando back to where he belonged. They could right a wrong, make things even between them and Carbon. Give them Lando and leave everything in the past. 

It was a hard decision to make. The outcome of either was not ideal. Neither of them were good. Someone body was sure to die if either of those decisions happened. 

There had to be another way but there was only one more choice. Stoffel never thought that would happen, Nyck wouldn’t want that. If Nyck gave him the signal, he’d do it. That’s the only way he’d do it, for Nyck. 

Stoffel kept a tight grip on Lando as Fernando stared them down. 

“Give him here, Stoffel. Go on. There’ll be a place for you two, there always have been. Carbon never wanted you. Give us Lando, go on.” Fernando said, Lando was shaking in his arms. For the first time since taking Lando, Stoffel felt bad. Nyck did too. Lando was scared. Alex and George were so close to him. If Stoffel and Nyck gave him to Fernando, they’d have to watch that.

Carbon remained quiet, nobody wanting to say anything. Nobody wanted to risk the possibility of Nyck and Stoffel handing Lando over to Fernando. 

If they handed Lando over to Fernando, he would hold something over them. They would use Lando over them. 

They knew he would blackmail them, if didn’t give in to his demands then he would kill Lando. Carbon couldn’t give into Fernando’s demands but they couldn’t have Lando killed either. 

They just had to hope Nyck and Stoffel didn’t hand Lando over to Fernando. 

They had to stay quiet to improve that chance. 

“Come on, Nyck. Carbon hurt you, didn’t they? That’s what i heard. Someone pretended to love you. Now, you have their boyfriend. You could give him to me, make it even, cause the pain to him, like he did to you.” Fernando carried on. “Broke your heart, didn’t he? Pretended he loved you and cared for but he didn’t, did he? Never did and never would.”

“Shut up!” Nyck shouted. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” 

“Oh, now we’re getting to you. Give us to him and I’ll shut up.” Fernando raised his hands in defence. That was his mistake. 

Nyck thought quickly and aimed his gun, he shot a bullet in Fernando’s palm. The boss immediately reacted to the pain. Nyck gave Stoffel the look, they had this plan of what to do in situations like this. They had this plan prepared for years, never did they think they would have to do it. Stoffel pushed Lando in George’s direction, Fernando’s gang too busy distracted by their boss in pain.

Once they confirmed George had hold of Lando, they ran. Stoffel grabbed Nyck’s hand and pulled him out. He climbed into their car, Nyck climbing in on the other side. As soon as they both sat down, Stoffel put his foot on the pedal. They couldn’t look back, they had to run. They had no choice, Fernando wasn’t going to be pleased.

Lando was safe in George’s arms now, George held him close as the boy sobbed. Fernando was so close to getting him. Alex joined the hug, sandwiching Lando between them so nobody could get to him. Fernando was still wincing in pain in the background.

“This isn’t over, Carbon! Mark my words!” Fernando shouted as one of his members walked him out, the rest of them following him. 

“Let’s head back.” Sebastian whispered. Lewis agreed.

When they got back, all of them headed to the meeting room. There was a weird silence over the room. Nobody dared to speak, not even Charles. The Monégasque seemed pale. George and Alex hadn’t let go of Lando, the boy still in their arms now but Kimi was beside them making sure he was okay. Valtteri was close to them, needing the comfort from Kimi. Everyone seemed to be close to the people who made them feel safe. Everyone needed the comfort after seeing that. 

Nobody questioned why Lewis took the whole gang to fetch Lando. It was almost like he knew Stoffel and Nyck were with him. Lewis knew everything. 

It remained deadly silent. 

There was something about that situation that was different. They had faced Fernando and his gang before but there was never another gang there. They had watched as Nyck shot Fernando. It was weird, unsettling. It left a weird feeling in everyone.

Nobody wanted to speak about what had just happened. A member had almost died. Two ex members almost betrayed them. Almost went to where all the ex members went too. It wasn’t just hard on one of them, it was hard on all of them. All of them felt the effects of it, all of them would feel the effects for a while. 

There was a quiet glance between some of them, a silence message reminding them that Carbon was strong. That they would get through, they had each other. That Lando was safe now. 

Meanwhile, Stoffel had driven them all the way to the freight train depot. There was a train pulling in, the two had to act fast. It would only stay for two minutes before departing again. They had gone back to Stoffel’s house on the way here, just to pick up their emergency bag where they kept all their cash and fake passports. Once Stoffel had that secured in his hands, he grabbed Nyck’s hand and pulled him towards the train. They climbed into one of the compartments that was full of boxes. Stoffel made Nyck sit down on one of them, the younger boy shaking a little. He shut the door to secure them in. 

Nyck looked scared, Stoffel didn’t blame him. He was scared too. They had no idea whether anybody was on their tail, whether anybody knew where they were going. 

It was scary to flee, to runaway from people who wanted your life. They didn’t know what challenges were ahead, they didn’t know if they would ever be found. They didn’t know if they would ever be caught. They couldn’t guess what the future held for them. They even know where they were going, they just knew it had to be far. It had to be somewhere they could settle down and blend in. Somewhere they could start a new life. 

Once the train reached the docks, they would sneak onto a boat. They head to some place in Europe, somewhere far, somewhere where they couldn’t be found by Fernando. They’d start a new life, they’d start a new life together.

Stoffel crouched down in front of Nyck, taking his hands in his own. He made Nyck look at him. He didn’t hesitate, he didn’t hold back. Stoffel closed the gap between them and kissed Nyck, kissed him hard. He kissed him to make up for all the time they had wasted by being idiots. He kissed him like there was no tomorrow because it wasn’t promised, definitely not after today.

It had always been Nyck for Stoffel. He had never fallen for someone because of that. Nobody was Nyck, nobody matched up to Nyck. Nobody could be Nyck. He couldn’t love anyone other than Nyck. It was always Nyck. 

Nyck kissed him back, the feelings hadn’t left. They hadn’t left like he thought they had. They were still there, still as strong as they first were. It had always been Stoffel, it always had been. Nyck had just slept and fell for other people to hide that, to cover that up. It had always been Stoffel and it always would be, nothing would ever change that. Stoffel would always be the answer, he’d always be the solution. He’d always be everything Nyck craved, always he everything Nyck wanted. 

“I love you, Stoff.” Nyck cried after they parted.

“I love you too, Nyck.” He smiled and wiped Nyck’s eyes. “Let’s go start a new life together, yeah?” Stoffel let Nyck wrap his arms around his neck and hug him.

Everything they did, they did together. There was never one without the other. That would never change, no matter what. Nyck would never leave Stoffel and Stoffel would never leave Nyck. 

They were going to start a new life together, they were going to start a new life far away. 

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is [@landonorrisgeorgerussell](https://landonorrisgeorgerussell.tumblr.com/)


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